Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Ania Nałęcka: On the problems of Being Repetitious, Enigmatic and Avoiding the Obvious

Die Mauer ist Weg by Mark Power

It is with great pleasure that we can announce another two speakers for Photobook Bristol 2016. Both Mariela Sancari (who launched her superb photobook Moises at Photobook Bristol in 2015) and Ania Nałęcka of Tapir Design will be speaking this year.

If you are struggling with a photobook, wondering how to match content and design with budget and communication. this is an unmissable talk!

I saw Ania speak at Vienna Photobook Festival last year and everything she said struck me for its clarity, simplicity and directness. These are some of the things she touched upon, as interpreted by myself.

Why Make a Photobook? It's not always the right thing!The Relationship between form and content - and gettting that right.The Importance of People understanding what you are trying to say in your photobook. You have to make them understand. It doesn't happen by accident!The Book is something that you Construct! It's not an accident of pages that fall together. You have to make it happen.How you can work with a Limited Budget. Being Poor forces you to be creative! Maybe?The Problem of Repeating yourself. Visually, verbally, in every possible way. Don't do it.The Problem of Being Enigmatic. Clarity and simplicity make for ease of communication. Unless you don't want people to understand you.The Problem of Avoiding the Obvious. Communication is about directness and making yourself understood; avoiding the obvious does not help that. At worst it might make you enigmatic or (the close cousin of enigma) incoherent.The Danger of 'Design'. Photography Always Comes First! That's why it's a Photobook!